The NOD and Communications Teams attended workshops and captured footage of speakers and Clinical Lead, John Sparrow, showcasing the important impact NOD has made to cataract surgery and how it is recognised by clinicians, NICE, GIRFT and industry as an important safety and research tool.
The video highlights data insights and benefits from those involved in the audit, presenting NOD as a clear example of a large-scale audit delivering system transformation, improving the quality and safety of cataract surgery. It can also be used to audit the treatment of not only cataract but also other common, potentially blinding diseases such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Since 2010, the National Ophthalmology Database (NOD) National Cataract Audit managed by The Royal College of Ophthalmologists, has analysed the outcomes of cataract surgery, the most commonly performed operation in the NHS (England & Wales).
Ophthalmology is now the highest volume outpatient specialty with 8% of all NHS surgery. An increase of 50% in cataract operations is predicted over the next 20 years and a 25% increase over the next ten years.
The RCOphth is actively engaging with NHS England, NHS Improvement, government decision-makers and through fundraising and campaigning (#makemydatacount) to ensure that long-term funding is secured to run the national cataract audit after 31 August 2019.
The RCOphth will continue to deliver the NOD audit independently after 31 August 2019, continuing to report surgeon and centre level data. The reports will be available via the RCOphth NOD website and there is an expectation that NOD will continue to provide data for publication on NHS Choices. RCOphth is also working on a feasibility study for the collection and analysis of cataract specific PROM data for inclusion in the NOD.
If you have any questions or require further information, please feel free to contact the NOD audit team via email at [email protected] or telephone on 020 7935 0702.